December 31, 2010

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The Traneumentary: Dr. Billy Taylor

RIP Dr. Billy Taylor (1921-2010)

The great Dr. Billy Taylor has done it all in his prolific career. He learned from the master pianist Art Tatum, played with Ben Webster, Ella, Bird, Diz, Duke Ellington, Miles and many others. He is also a gifted pianist and composer in his own right as well as one of the premier educators of the music. Billy created the Jazz Mobile and the Jazz and July Series @ University of Massachusetts. Currently, he is Artistic Director of Jazz at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.

Back in the day, Billy had the occasion to hang out with Coltrane at Birdland and discuss music, artistic influences and life. On this special Traneumentary episode, Billy performs a beautiful version of the classic “Naima” plus talks fondly of John Coltrane.